NSSA bosses keep parly guessing

NATIONAL Social Security Authority (NSSA) board chairman, Edwin Manikai, this week failed to appear before a Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee where he was expected to answer searching
questions over the operations of the authority.

The committee, chaired by Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) MP Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, said acting general manager, Amod Takawira, also failed to turn up to the meeting.

The two had been summoned before the committee to give a detailed account of NSSA’s operations which have been a subject of public outcry.

Manikai was said to be in South Africa. Takawira, who has been acting for the past four years, was said to be on leave. Also unavailable was the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Lancaster Musaka, who was also said be on leave.

Instead, NSSA and the ministry sent Takawira’s assistant and the acting permanent secretary respectively.

The parliamentary committee dismissed the two junior officials and demanded to talk to Manikai, Takawira and the secretary.

“We said we wanted to speak to the chairman, permanent secretary and the general manager who has been there for the past four years,” said Misihairabwi-Mushonga. The meeting was postponed to next week.

The committee wanted NSSA management to clarify its financial statements for 2002, which have been completed by the auditor-general.

She said they wanted the authority to give a detailed account of their spending, policies and operations.

“We want to scrutinise their report and financial accounts because there has been a public outcry over their operations,” she said. The committee wanted to find out if NSSA was following procedures in its investment of taxpayers’ money.